Former OpenAI CTO Murati鈥檚 New AI Startup Reportedly Closing In On $9B Valuation

Artificial intelligence • Startups • Venture

Former OpenAI CTO Murati鈥檚 New AI Startup Reportedly Closing In On $9B Valuation

February 26, 2025

Illustration of a robot vacuum clearing off a Billion-dollar bill.

Marlize van Romburgh

, a new startup by former CTO , aims to raise $1 billion at a $9 billion valuation, . If the deal closes, the company would be just the latest AI startup with ties to OpenAI to land a big investment. It would also be part of a growing trend of early-stage startups being minted as unicorns.

The round is not yet finalized and the details could change, Business Insider reported. It did not provide any information on potential investors in the company, which just emerged from stealth this month.

Murati left OpenAI in September after more than six years at the startup, including a brief stint as its interim CEO. She has recruited some 20 former OpenAI researchers to Thinking Machines, Reuters earlier this month. Other employees previously spent time at rivals and .

It’s not clear if the company has previously raised funding.

On its , Thinking Machines says it is open source and aims to create 鈥渕ore flexible, adaptable, and personalized AI systems.鈥�

鈥淲e see enormous potential for AI to help in every field of work,鈥� the company said. 鈥淲hile current systems excel at programming and mathematics, we’re building AI that can adapt to the full spectrum of human expertise and enable a broader spectrum of applications.鈥�

Feeding the AI machine

Thinking Machines鈥� raise would mark the latest large funding deal for an AI startup by a founder with OpenAI ties.

, a -backed OpenAI rival also founded by some former OpenAI employees, is reportedly closing in on a fresh $3.5 billion funding round that would value it at $61.5 billion. Just last month, it was that the startup raised a fresh $1 billion from previous investor Google. It has raised $14.7 billion to date, .

鈥檚 generative AI startup is in talks to raise another $10 billion at a $75 billion valuation, earlier this month. The company most recently raised $6 billion in November. Musk was an OpenAI founder who left the company early on after a still-ongoing and bitter feud and legal battle with CEO . The startup has now raised $12.4 billion in known funding, .

In September, AI research lab , co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist , raised $1 billion from investors including and at a $5 billion valuation.

And OpenAI itself is reportedly closing in on a new $40 billion funding from that will value it at an astounding $260 billion. The -backed creator has raised $21.9 billion already from investors, .

If Thinking Machines Lab successfully closes the funding, it would also join a growing trend of early-stage startups (seed, Series A or Series B) achieving unicorn valuations, often within mere months of their founding. AI startups have been particularly prominent in the trend of early-stage unicorns.

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